3-6 The Last of my Hand Drama, I Swear!

Just to wrap up the end of this story arc, here’s the final analysis of my hand.

This is the original injury. The pen marks up my thumb denote where it is that I have altered sensation. Below the bottom thumb knuckle was altered but not completely numb before the surgery while above that knuckle was completely numb.

Look how TINY that cut is!



This is my hand three days after surgery. I had six stitches, four of which I couldn’t feel at all. The total numbness extended down to just below the incision after the surgery. It goes to the crease of my wrist, more or less. This is probably an issue that stems from repeated trauma to the same hand. By trauma medical talk means anything that alters your body’s natural state, including surgery. Anyway, my thumb was swollen which cut down considerably on the sensation.

And now, it is so much bigger…
I took this photo yesterday. The incision is healed and the only open wounds are where we pulled the stitches out. When I touch my thumb to the base of my pinky, I can feel the skin pull at the incision site but not in a bad way.

Look, all better
The stitches came out on Thursday. I probably should have taken them out a day or two early. I heal fast, I guess. When I went to get them taken out, we got the first two out without too much trouble. I can’t feel that part of my hand, so it wasn’t a problem. The third stitch was a bit troublesome. The knot wasn’t centered which made it hard to find just one side of the stitch to clip. It was really well grown in. Eventually, my nurse pulled up on the stitch while I actually dug into the wound to cut the line. It was great fun.
The last three stitches weren’t as badly covered. The two on the inside of my wrist have sensation, which made them a lot more annoying to take out. The first four are totally numb still.
At this point, below my knuckle is totally numb. I can’t feel anything short of hard direct pressure. Between the knuckles I have some sensation though it isn’t normal. It feels like my skin is covered in a layer of cellophane. The knuckle to the nail is still totally numb.
I’m learning all sort of interesting things about nerve systems and the superficial radial nerve in the hand. If I get feeling back, I will be certain to tell

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *